To get a better understanding of the improvement of the invention, I will first describe a prior art device that cannot work to enable controlling the position, heading or the weight distribution of a vehicle. Typically, an assembly comprising an electric motor and gear box has an output shaft (e.g., drive shaft), both of which are supported by the body. The torque on the body from the drive shaft and the reaction torque of the motor and gear box are equal and counteract each other so that the net torque on the body is zero. In other words, this typical arrangement can have no permanent effect on the position, heading or the weight distribution of a vehicle. Thus, it will not enable controlling them.
There are both gyroscopic and centrifugal types of torque amplifying mechanisms. Each type has at least one rotary power source connected to the device and the output shaft drives, for example, a generator, a pump, a transmission or any other rotary machine. Such mechanisms are torque amplifiers, but are used in a way that will not produce any permanent net torque that can be used to control the position, the heading or the weight distribution of the body of a vehicle.
EP 0365896 by John G. Bolger and U.S. Pat. No. 2,033,343 to William James Larkin, describe centrifugal types. These patents describe mechanisms that drive rotary machines wherein there is no transfer of the net torque to the body supporting the mechanisms.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,718, by William Lester, which describes a centrifugal type of torque amplifying mechanism. This patent illustrates a mechanism that drives a rotary machine, again without transfer of net torque to the body.
There are also known gyroscopic or centrifugal torque amplifying mechanisms which have outputs that oscillate with a linear function back and forth and use rack and pinion gears to convert the linear motion to rotating oscillating clockwise (CW) and counterclockwise (CCW) motion. There is also a type that has the oscillating function converted to a rotary CW/CCW function by a screw arrangement. All the devices show mechanisms that drive a rotary machine and provide no transfer of net torque to the body.
Also, as background is U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,239, to Kerwin D. W. Chong, entitled “Gyroscopic virtual counterweight for cranes”. The device is described as transferring gyroscopic torque to the body of a crane to counteract the tilting moment when a heavy load is lifted. However, the gyroscopic device described has the torque oscillating CW/CCW on the body with no unidirectional drive shown. This is a big difference from the present invention.
Also of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 7,051,608, to Juan Jose Guerrero, which describes a gyroscopic system to reposition a body, but without any unidirectional drive—again, a great difference from my invention.
Similarly, US Patent Publication No. 2002-14507 by Douglas Shultz, doesn't appear to enable providing a torque for an indefinitely long time. There is no unidirectional drive that is transferring its torque.
However, if the torque amplifying mechanism were applied differently from these conventional mechanisms, as it is in the present invention, the result could be dramatically changed to provide a new utility. If its output were non-rotatingly connected to the body, then torque would be transferred to the body. The output torque would not be nullified by an equal torque from the drive motor. The invention achieves this highly useful effect.